1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven having microcomputer incorporated therein and operable according to cooking programs stored in the microcomputer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cooking programs are conventionally entered into such microwave ovens incorporating a microcomputer, for example, with use of a cookbook having printed therein photographs and descriptions of various menus and bar code symbols each representing a cooking program for each menu, by tracing the bar code of the desired cooking program with a bar code reader. U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,773 discloses a method of entering cooking programs by bar code reading.
With reference to a large number of photographs contained in the cookbook, a menu which stimulates one's appetite can be selected much more quickly from an extremely wider variety of menus when the bar code symbol printed in the cookbook is thus utilized than when one's imagination is resorted to for selecting a particular menu with reference to the names of menus only. Moreover, the cooking program selected can be entered into the oven very easily without necessitating special skill.
Nevertheless, the conventional method of entering cooking programs into the microwave oven is mainly based on one's appetite excited by viewing photographs, i.e. on sensory selection, so that it is exceedingly troublesome to select a suitable menu with consideration given to the following conditions or requirements attendant on the menu. The chef relies solely on mental work when checking whether the contemplated menu can be cooked within a limited period of time available, whether menus of the same type only are selected frequently or whether the desired caloric value is achievable. For example, when a menu is to be selected from among about ten preselected suitable menus with consideration given to the above conditions, a considerably large number of items of data must be considered, so that there arises the problem that it becomes almost impossible to select an appropriate menu by mental work. Furthermore, when selecting a particular menu, the chef is influenced by her own likes and dislikes likes either consciously or unconsciously. This is likely to make reasonable selection difficult.